Despite getting a lot of attention on Russian social media over the last five months, Amina Ependieva remains a very mysterious figure. Discovered by Chechen photographer Amina Arsakova, the 11-year-old made quite an impression when photos were posted on Arsakova’s Instagram account. Her post usually received about 1,000 likes on average, but the photos of Ependieva received over 10,000 likes, and hundreds of comments either praising her unearthly beauty or asking if she was a real person.

Photo: Amina Arsakova/Instagram

“My search for beauty was once again successful,” Amina Arsakova captioned one of the photos of this unique-looking teen, and people unanimously agreed.

According to Russian outlet Sm-News, Ependieva hails from Kurchaloy, a small town in Chechnya, and owes her stunning beauty to a combination of rare genetic conditions – albinism and heterochromia. While albinism is generally described as the “congenital absence of any pigmentation or coloration in a person, resulting in white hair and skin,” heterochromia is a difference in the coloration of the iris, determined by the production, delivery, and concentration of pigmentation (melanin).

Both albinism and heterochromia are rarely diagnosed in humans by themselves, but even more so together.

Amina Arsakova published the photos of Ependieva in January of 2020, and they quickly went viral on Russian social media. While most users praised the 11-year-old’s unusual beauty, some accused the photographer of using Photoshop to artificially create the combination of albinism and heterochromia.

Amina Ependieva doesn’t yet have her own social media profiles, so it’s hard to verify if she actually looks as stunning as she does in Arsakova’s photos, but it’s worth mentioning that Instagram users claiming to be from Kurchaloy and to know the young girl personally have commented that she is even more beautiful in real life.

If she does really look this stunning, I think it’s safe to say that we’ll be seeing a lot more of Amina Ependieva as she grows up.

Iriss and Abyss have nearly 200,000 followers on Instagram who love nothing more than to watch the two gorgeous white cats show off their differently colored eyes. Many of their fans are convinced that the two are pure-bred Angora or Turkish Van specimens, but they are in fact cross-bred from a white domestic cat and a black and white cat, and owe their social-media fame to winning the genetic lottery. Their Russian owner says that the fact that the two felines were born with white coats and heterochromatic eyes – yellow and the other one blue – is nothing short of a natural miracle.

Photo: Sis.Twins/Instagram

“All the pure breeds are the results of generic selection. But the fact, that we have no distinct breed, and got all these fantastic features is truly amazing!” Sankt Petersburg-based Pavel Dyagilev said. “Such a chance is one in a million! And we feel so blessed, that we’ve got that chance!”

Dyagilev told Barcroft Animals that he fell in love with Iriss and Abyss as soon as he saw their picture in an advertisement that their previous owner posted online. He adopted them immediately, and decided to share their beauty with the world via Instagram

Even though they are identical twins, the three-year-old cats apparently have very different personalities. Iriss is “more easy-going”, while Abyss has the personality of a “true diva” and she will only interact with you only when she wants to. However, they both seem to love posing for pictures.

The unique appearance of Iriss and Abyss has turned them into Instagram stars, but when it comes to the unofficial title of most beautiful cat, the two have some serious competition, like Corby the Cat, whose deep blue eyes have mesmerized over 1.4 million Instagram users.